Taylor Phinney

Taylor Phinney Ready to Suffer in 2014

The 23-year-old BMC pro shares what he’s learned in his young career and his plans for a breakout 2014

james startt

(Photo by Talyor Phinney started strong at January’s Tour de San Luis and aims to win the inaugural Tour of Dubai in February. (James Startt))

Bicycling: You’ve been racing at the WorldTour ranks for three years with good results, but I get the sense that this year you really want to take your racing to the next level.Taylor Phinney: For sure. I had some pretty good results in 2012, but unfortunately last year I didn’t really have the year I wanted mainly due to some illness and injury. This next year I am being given the race program that I really want and all of the opportunities that I can have, if I am in the position physically to be a leader. I’ve got full backing of the team and have been training really well so I am confident. I am excited.

What are your main objectives exactly?
Well there is the time trial here in San Luis, but I am really hoping to do well in the Tour of Dubai. It’s a new race that starts with a time trial. I’m hoping that if I win that I will get a gold bar or my own island or something!

But seriously, that would be a huge race to win so I am going there aiming for the overall. Then there is the time trial in the Tour Med that I will aim for. I’ll be at Paris-Nice to help Tejay van Garderen and then will dive into the Classics.

Then I’ll get to spend some time back in the States, which is always nice for me. I’ll do California and the nationals, and then from there it is all about making the Tour de France team—that’s the biggest long-term goal of the season.

As you said, you were frustrated with a lot of 2013, but you did have a great win on Stage 4 at the Tour of Poland.
It really showed me what I am capable of doing. I learned a couple of things. You know when you watch cycling and you watch people win races and they make it look really easy. In reality though it is incredibly difficult. It is kind of funny to say that, but I suffered so much in that Tour of Poland stage. Yet I had that ability to dig really, really deep. I was completely done for the next day. I had nothing. So it just showed me that if I want to do something like that again, I have to commit. I have to be willing to dig that deep. It is not an easy thing to do. It is not easy to convince your body to do that. But a victory like that also showed me what I am capable of.

Time trialing is obviously one of your strengths. Today Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin are consistently the two best specialists. Have you learned anything from watching them prepare and execute a time trial?I think I know enough about time trialing to know how it works. Like with the Tour of Poland stage. You have to embrace the suffering and be okay with it. When I was doing the track when I was 18 years old, I felt like I was having a good ride if it didn’t feel too bad and I was going fast. But now I realize that was just me being naïve. It is just supposed to hurt the whole time. The thing I have to do to catch up on those guys is to get Grand Tours and more seasons in the legs.

Take the Florence TT [2013 world championship time trial]. It was 57 kilometers, an hour and seven or eight minutes, whatever, that’s a really long time. It is about being able to wrap your head around that. There was a straight in Florence that was like 30 kilometers long where you didn’t turn. You just had roundabouts to go around. So you get on this road and it is like, “Alright, here I am!” Those kind of time trials are a lot like climbing. There is no respite. I really love a technical time trial where you can go really deep, take a corner, go really deep.

But I am starting to learn that I need to commit to climbing better in races because it is purely mental. You start to suffer and you start to think that you are the only one suffering. I have to wrap my head around being at that threshold for long periods.

Look at Cancellara last year in the Vuelta. It was right before the Worlds and he was doing really well, leading Chris Horner out on these long climbs. And that is the same with Tony Martin. He can climb really well and he is a big dude too. That is something that is going to take a bit of time.

Phinney led Paris-Roubaix in Arenberg with 95km to go, but finished 23rd. (James Startt)

You’ve also ridden well in some of the big Classics. Last year you were one of the first ones out of the Arenberg forest in Paris-Roubaix. What have you learned from riding the Classics that will help you take it to the next level in those races?
I got a little excited going into the Arenberg Forest. It’s a massive fight to get in position before the Arenberg, like a sprint. But it has been like 40 years since the guy leading in the Arenberg actually won the race. All the big guys want to be like second or third. But then you got guys like me that are like, “Wow this the Arenberg Forest!” I kind of had this moment where I was like, “This is maybe the only chance in my entire career where I can hit the Arenberg Forest first.” And I just thought about the TV camera, my parents watching on TV, the shot they do where the camera turns back on the pack and I was like, “I could be that guy! I could be that guy!” I saw the sea part in the middle and just got behind the moto and went through. But I am glad that I got that out of the way. That was an experience that I was really excited to have but it wasn’t exactly the smartest thing to do. Later in the race I paid for it.

So I think I have the fitness and positioning ability to be where I need to be, but it is just having the patience throughout the whole day. I need to chill out and let the race come to me until the real selection has been made. That’s when you need to make the race for yourself.

You got seventh in Milan-San Remo. What do you think of the new course?
I haven’t seen the new climbs so I am not entirely sure, but it is still a race I want to do regardless, because probably, other than Roubaix, it is my favorite race. With the distance and the history, it is just a special event. It is one of the only races that remains true. It is from Milan to San Remo. I’ll be living in Nice this year so I’ll be a bit closer and have a chance to ride the climbs more.

I like to think of myself as eventually the guy that can get over the climbs with 40 to 50 guys and win races. I have that physical ability, I just need to get there and it has taken a bit of time. For sure that kind of course will suit me as years go by but I have to get there.

You mentioned riding the Tour de France this year for the first time. Clearly that is a big goal for you. What would it mean for you?
I’m in my fourth year as a pro and the Tour de France is “it” as a cyclist. But I have to make the Tour team first. It would be a massive honor for me, especially with it starting in the UK. I loved being at the Olympics there two years ago. The crowds and the fans are crazy for it so I think it is going to be a really special first three days there.

Also we’re kind of entering this new phase in the team where we are backing Tejay and we’re going for youth. And if it works out the way I think it might work out and guys like me make the team and guys like Peter Stetina make the team, it is going to be a younger, more American team. We’ll be able to grow and build together for the next couple of years.

What would you like to accomplish in those next couple of years?
I would say an Olympic gold medal is my biggest goal. Ever since I started riding a bike that has pretty much been a goal, mainly due primarily to my parents who both won medals and seeing where that gets you in life. I think I can build up to 2016 and be one of those riders that is up there in the Classics and time trials.

I’ve learned a lot of things. I tend to think I am right about a lot of things like nutrition and training, but I have learned I can be wrong too. So I have come to trust the opinion of others more.

I’ve learned that this is a sport I am super passionate about, but also that it is a sport that is really difficult to be successful in. There are only a handful of riders that win a lot of races every year. But I still want to be one of those riders. I know it is something I have to be patient with. I know it is going to take a bit more time than somebody like Peter Sagan. He is my age but he makes me feel like I am a little kid. But I realize that everybody has their growing processes, their learning processes. I have to be patient with myself, but I’ll get there.